The New Normal
by CandyApple75
Summary: Emma and Regina wake up in each other's bodies and neither of them is exactly happy. And as if things couldn't get worse, will they be stuck like this permenantly?


**Hey there! This is another re-post of one of my Once Upon a Monday chapters, but I re-worked it so that I think it ends better. **

**This is sort of AU. The curse is broken, but Regina is still mayor.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Emma woke up in a bed that was not her bed. Days like this never seemed to end well. She looked around and realized that she recognized the room. It was Regina's room. Oh, great. Emma slid out of the bed and looked down. She was wearing black silk pajamas that could only belong to Regina. Where was the mayor anyway?

Emma rubbed her eyes sleepily and then looked down in surprise when she saw that her fingernails were pointed and painted black. She felt the back of her neck and found that her hair was shorter. Oh man, what the hell had happened last night?

She padded over to the mirror and had to stifle a scream as she saw her reflection. She didn't see her own face in the mirror. She saw Regina. Emma put a hand up and touched her cheek. The hand in the mirror did the same. This was really, really bad.

Henry slowly kicked open the door. "Mom?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Henry," Emma said quickly. She had to put a hand to her throat when she heard Regina's voice come out through her mouth. "Something's going on. I need your help."

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm…" Emma trailed off as she debated about telling him what happened. Actually, she had no idea what had happened. "I'm not Regina. I'm Emma. I have no idea what happened, but I'm stuck in your mom's body. You have any ideas?"

"Emma?" Henry asked. "Why are you in my mom's body?"

"I don't know," Emma snapped. "That's what I need you to help me figure out."

"Oh, okay. We should probably start by finding you…er, my mom in your body."

Emma nodded. "Just let me find something to wear." She started riffling through Regina's closet. "Does she own anything other than skirts, blouses and dresses, 'cause you couldn't _pay _me to put those on."

"I think she has a pair of jeans and a regular shirt somewhere, and I know she keeps her sneakers out in the garage."

"Thanks, kid," Emma called as Henry raced out of the room.

"That sounds so weird in her voice."

"You're telling me."

~*oO0Oo*~

Regina blinked her eyes open slowly and looked around. She wasn't in her room. She shot up into a sitting position and gasped as she felt something that she hadn't felt in twenty-eight years; hair trailing down onto her shoulders. What the hell was going on?

She stood up and stopped dead as she noticed that she was wearing a tank top and shorts. She hurried into the bathroom and gasped as she saw Emma's face staring back at her. This was not good. Regina looked down at her trembling hands and had to fight the urge to scream.

She walked back into the bedroom and gasped yet again as she saw Snow standing in the doorway.

"Emma? Are you okay?" Snow asked.

"What? I'm not…I mean, I'm fine," Regina said. She wanted to figure out why the hell she was stuck in someone else's body before letting anyone-especially Snow White-know.

Snow looked suspiciously at Regina for a moment before the sound of the front door opening prompted her to race downstairs.

"Regina, Henry. What are you doing here?" Snow asked. Regina raced over to the stairway and had to put a hand to her head as she saw her own body standing in the doorway. Emma caught Regina's eye and looked too confused for words, but she turned back to her mother.

"Look, I'm not sure what happened, but I'm Emma. I woke up and I was in Regina's body and I have no idea what's going on."

_There goes my cover. _Regina thought.

"I didn't have anything to do with it," she said coming down the stairs. She stood next to Emma and almost couldn't believe that she was a good two inches taller than her brunette body. "Am I really that short without my heels?"

"I never realized I was that tall," Emma said. "But I want my body back. You've got the magic, do you have anything that can fix this?"

"Actually," Regina started. She put out her hand and tried her hardest to conjure up a simple fireball, but nothing happened.

Emma mimicked Regina's movements and yelped when her palm burst into flame.

"Okay, Regina," Snow said. Emma and Regina both turned to look at her. "Alright, when I say the name, I mean the person _inside _the body. So Regina's body is Emma and Emma's body is Regina. Now, Regina, do you have any idea as to what could have happened?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is we had better find some way to fix this and soon. There's a town council meeting tomorrow and I would prefer to be in my body for that."

"Alright, just give me a second here," Emma said. She made her way over to the couch and slumped down onto it. "I'm in a body that isn't my body and my hand was just on fire and I'm wearing clothes that aren't my clothes and you all are taking this rather well."

"Trust me, dear," Regina said, the endearment sounding just plain wrong coming out in Emma's voice. "I was an evil queen, I ripped out the hearts of countless people, I murdered my husband, banished my mother to, well, only the gods know where and I cursed an entire realm. This is nothing."

"And I married your father," Snow said. Then she turned to Regina. "Banished your mother?"

Regina shot Snow a look that, even on Emma's face, said clearly _I'm not talking about it._.

"I'm the son of a savior," Henry said simply, as if that were a common occurrence.

"Whatever," Emma said. "Let's just go talk to Gold."

"No," Regina said. "He probably won't even know what to do. Magical bodyswap isn't exactly a common occurrence. Or a known occurrence at that."

"Well we have to start somewhere and unless you want to pay a visit to the fairies, I think we're stuck with Gold," Snow said.

"We?" Emma and Regina asked together.

"What? I don't get to help?"

At that moment the door swung open and James came in with a box of doughnuts in his hands. "I brought breakfast," he said. Then he looked up and caught sight of Henry and the three women. He quickly set the doughnuts on the table. "You know what? I just remembered, I need to go…walk the…fish."

"Have fun, Charming!" Snow said.

"Walk the fish?" Emma asked.

"I don't even ask anymore. Now are we going to Gold or not?"

"Fine," Regina said. "Let's just get this over with."

~*oO0Oo*~

"I'm afraid I can't help you," Gold said.

"What?" Emma asked. Due to the two inch difference between this body and her old one, she had to look up slightly to look Gold in the eyes.

"I can't help you," Gold repeated. "Magical body switching is…rare at best. I've heard tales, but this is the first time I've seen it."

"Well is this permanent?" Regina asked. "Because Miss Swan's hair is impossible to manage."

"You're one to talk. I think I can actually feel that stick up your ass," Emma retorted.

"Fighting isn't going to solve anything," Henry said stepping between his mothers before Emma could get the urge to practice her new magic on Regina.

"I'm not sure if it will be permanent," Gold said. "The best I can do is wish you both good luck and hope that it wears off after a day or two."

"But you can't even find out what caused this?" Snow asked before Gold could retreat into the back room of his shop.

"Afraid not. As I said, body switching is risky business. Good day to you." With that, Gold disappeared into the back room leaving Emma and Regina staring longingly back at their own bodies and Snow and Henry wondering vaguely what he was doing.

"We'll find a way to fix this," Snow said.

"We better, 'cause I think this is the only set of non-business clothes that Regina owns and I'm not putting on a freakin' pencil skirt," Emma said.

"And I'm not too keen to try on your…clothing," Regina said as though it was painful for her to actually say it. "If this is my body from now on, you can bet that that red jacket will be the first thing to go."

"Oh, that's it," Emma said. She lunged for Regina, but Snow held her back.

"No. Fighting isn't going to make this any better. We need to just stay calm. Now why don't we all head back to the apartment and see what we can find."

Emma and Regina glared at each other as they followed Snow and Henry out of the pawn shop. They garnered lots of confused stares from the townsfolk at the sight of the mayor in jeans and sneakers and the sheriff in a tight pair of slacks and a blouse. Both women ignored them and continued to mutter insults about each other's bodies.

"Your body absolutely refuses to stand straight," Regina snapped.

"You are so short," Emma replied.

"How on earth do you manage to squeeze into those tight pants every day?"

"I can't feel your legs because of those stupid heels."

"Do you ever brush your hair?"

"Is there any particular reason why your body doesn't slouch?"

"Will you two shut up?" Snow snapped. "You're acting worse than my fourth graders and it's ridiculous."

Emma and Regina stopped talking, but they stuck their tongues out at each other and continued to shoot each other dirty looks.

~*oO0Oo*~

Emma looked around her room and grinned when she saw that she was actually in her room. She raced into the bathroom and was relieved to see her own face staring back at her. She didn't know how or why, but she was back.

"Emma?" Snow called up the stairs.

"Yeah?" Emma replied.

"Oh thank goodness it worked."

"What worked?" Emma asked as she walked downstairs, still in her pajamas.

"Blue gave me a potion yesterday that she said _might _send you back to your regular bodies. When you and Regina were fighting each other, I slipped some in your drinks."

"When was this?"

"It was the time when you threw the fireball at her and she tackled you."

"Oh yeah. You know, I never realized how strong I actually am until I had to fight myself. Or maybe Madame Mayor's just weak."

"Don't you have some place to be?" Snow asked.

Emma looked over at the clock and remembered about the town council meeting that started in about half an hour. She raced back upstairs, threw on some clothes and ran a brush through her hair, pausing just long enough to plant a kiss on the sleeve of her red leather jacket.

She went back downstairs to see James sipping his coffee on the couch.

"So, did the fish enjoy his walk yesterday?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, he did. I think Mr. Fish and I had some quality bonding time yesterday."

"Mr. Fish? Really? Even I'm more original than that."

"Oh yeah? What would _you _have named Henry?"

Emma thought for a moment and then sighed and looked down. "Probably Kid. Or maybe Kiddo. Possibly Baby."

"And you're complaining about Mr. Fish?"

"We don't even have a fish," Emma said before she headed out the door.

~*oO0Oo*~

"Morning, Regina," Emma said as the mayor stepped out of her car in front of the town hall.

"Good morning, Sheriff," Regina replied, her eyes narrowing. "What has you in such high spirits today?"

"Let's just say I love my body."

"I suppose the feeling is mutual. Although that was an experience."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I don't have a 'stick up my ass' as you so crudely put it."

Emma had to hold in her laughter as she followed Regina into town hall. Yesterday had been…weird. Then again, she lived in a town full of magic and fairy tale characters. Weird was now the new normal.

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**Well that was…odd. Whatever. I liked it and I hope you all did too. That 'walk the fish' line came from a rather bizarre place in my mind. Probably the same area with the emo bunnies and the singing penguins. Okay, that sounded weird. I'm not on drugs or anything! I swear! **

**Alright. Before this gets any weirder, I'm just going to say thanks for reading and please review.  
~Candy :)**


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